Movie notes: More ‘Saw’

In his one-jalapeno followup review of “Saw III,” Larry Ratliff writes that the horror franchise’s latest installment “concludes, but not soon enough, with ‘Game over.’ That’s where the franchise should end as well. There’s nothing left for this once-intriguing horror-crime-thriller to do than just limp to the body-part-splattered finish line.”

Uh, no such luck. The critic-shy film’s weekend box-office victory (an estimated $34.3 million) ensures that there will be a “Saw IV.” Sure enough, it popped onto the schedule at www.boxofficeguru.com this morning. Here’s a surprise — it opens Oct. 26, 2007, the Friday before Halloween.

The fact that it won the weekend was no surprise: It opened on three times as many screens as its only big-studio competition, “Catch a Fire.” But unlike other horror franchises, it continues to grow. It earned 10 percent more than “Saw II” and set records for biggest Halloween weekend opening (held by “Saw II”) and best opening for its studio, Lionsgate Films. So Jigsaw’s successors will be tormenting folks for the forseeable future.

Good-movie note: Life’s too short to waste a couple hours on “Saw III,” but I’d highly recommend “The Prestige,” the dueling-magicians drama from director Christopher Nolan (“Memento,” “Batman Begins”). Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are great as magicians obsessed with bringing each other down; Scarlett Johansson is, uh, fetching in her skimpy assistant’s costume; and David Bowie is a hoot as electrical pioneer Nikolai Tesla.

And I learned something important — never try the “bullet catch” trick without carefully screening your audience.